With the further evolution of fixed-mobile broadband networks beyond 3G/4G, there is a great need to further flatten the future broadband network architecture to improve network efficiency and performance, to reduce network capital expenditure and operational expenditure, and to enable new advanced features and services. Splitting the Identity (ID) and locator (LOC) of a communication device may be used to help enable an ultra flat network architecture and better support of mobility, security and multi-homing in a network environment.
In previous generation networks, a communication device's ID and location were usually tied to the communication device's address, for example, an Internet Protocol (IP) address. An IP address describes the topological location of the host and is also used for identifying the host's interface, which is very inefficient especially when mobility is involved. When tied to an IP address, the communication device's ID and location are typically bound together and if the communication device's location were to change, such as when the communication device roams onto a different network (a visitor network), then the communication device's ID would also change.
The requirements in the Internet have changed very much with the increasing number of mobile devices, the use of multi-homing and provider-independent (PI) IP addresses, and the other new uses of the Internet. These new challenges are only met with difficulty where the same IP address has traditionally been used both as an identity for transport and application and as a locator for network routing. The difficulty here is that transport sessions which use the same IP address are disrupted when changes in the network routing also causes changes in the IP address.
With ID/Locator split, a communication device's ID and location may no longer be tied together. Then, when a communication device's location changes, it may not be necessary to change the communication device's ID. In other words, the routing IP address may be changed without changing the ID, which may help to prevent a disruption of the transport session. This may simplify network operation, thereby potentially reducing network capital expenditure and operational expenditure since hardware and software support requirements may be reduced.
As a User Equipment (UE) moves around, it may become necessary for the UE to participate in a handoff that results in the UE changing from an old serving network to a new serving network. A long delay handoff may result in a partial interruption of service for the UE or even the dropping of the UE's connection, either of which may produce an undesirable user experience.
Therefore, what is needed is a system and method for improving the handoff of a UE so that service is minimally impacted when the UE participates in a handoff.